Below is an introduction to this map.
Air Units
At the beginning of the game round, all bombers move. A bomber is a dive bomber, torpedo bomber, medium bomber, strategic bomber, Superfortress, or flying wing. Everyone moves their bombers during this phase. There is a limit of 4 bombers per territory. However, there is no bomber limit for naval battles.
The next step is for fighters to move. Fighters consist of fighters, heavy fighters, advanced fighters, early jets, and jets. There is a limit of four fighters per territory. However, there is no fighter limit for naval battles. Also, there is no fighter limit for you to defend your factories against strategic bombing raids. If you're sending bombers to attack a land or naval target you can send fighters to escort. But if you're sending bombers to do a strategic bombing raid fighters cannot escort. Also, you can use fighters to defend your own armies and ships from someone else's bombers.
The next step is the dogfight. This lasts two combat rounds. Only fighters participate. They fire at their dogfight values. Destroyed units are removed from play.
After that there is the interception. Any fighters which survived the dogfight fire at enemy bombers, using their interception values. Enemy bombers fire back using their air defense values. Destroyed units are removed from play. Damaged bombers are aborted.
After this, aa guns fire. Each aa gun gets one shot only regardless of how many aircraft there are. An aa gun fires on a two.
Then, bombers attack. Three types of raids here:
Strategic bombing raids. A medium bomber, strategic bomber, Superfortress, or flying wing does a fixed amount of PU damage to the nation whose factory is getting bombed.
Land strafing. Normally this would be dive bombers doing this. Dive bombers get a bonus when attacking land targets. The land targets don't get to fire back, except for aa guns.
Naval attacks. Any bombers which weren't aborted or destroyed during the interception get to attack. Torpedo bombers get a bonus for this type of attack. (Except American torpedo bombers, which need to research a cure for their faulty torpedoes to get the bonus.) Any ship damaged or destroyed by the attack gets to fire back at the torpedo bombers. This lasts two combat rounds.
At the end of each game round, air units can use their remaining range to "fly home." If a plane is over a good landing spot already it is not required to fly home. A good landing spot is either an aircraft carrier or a territory you owned at the start of your turn.
Sticky hits
Once a unit takes a single point of damage, additional hits are automatically applied to that unit until it dies, or until combat ends. Injured units heal at the end of the game round. Thus, a unit damaged during an air attack can be finished off with land or naval combat. Because of sticky hits, it is normal for units to have multiple hitpoints. For example: transports have 0 hitpoints, destroyers and subs have one hitpoint, cruisers have two hitpoints, battleships have five hitpoints, and the mighty Yamato has eight hitpoints.
Naval Combat
Naval combat has three phases.
Destroyers fire. Hits are automatically applied to enemy subs first, and only then to enemy surface ships. Units destroyed in this phase do get casualty shots.
Subs fire. Hits are only applied to enemy surface ships. Units killed in this phase do not get casualty shots.
Non-destroyer surface ships fire. Hits are applied to enemy surface ships. Destroyed units get casualty shots.
A battleship provides support to one unit, and a Yamato battleship provides support to two units. Destroyers and cruisers can receive support. Support is provided/received on both offense and defense. It is received by destroyers first, and only then by cruisers. If a destroyer or cruiser is supported, it receives +1 to attack or to defense.
Research
Each nation except China has 1 - 3 research centers. Totals are as follows:
Germany: 3
USSR: 2
Japan: 2
Britain: 2
Italy: 1
America Pacific: 2
America Atlantic: 2
For each research center you choose an area of primary focus and an area of secondary focus. These cannot overlap. For example, Britain has two research centers, and so will choose four different research categories. It cannot have all four choices be the same thing. Each research center will always get one breakthrough per turn. There is a 40% chance of this breakthrough being in its primary focus, a 20% chance of it being in its secondary focus, and a 40% chance of it being chosen at random.
Each breakthrough creates a bright yellow star. You will notice that individual techs start off with dull grey stars. Each research advance replaces one dull grey star with a bright yellow star. Once you've replaced all the dull grey stars with bright yellow stars you get the tech. For example, America Atlantic needs three bright yellow stars to unlock the Pershing tank tech.
Special Production Centers (SPCs)
This game has advanced units. Advanced units cannot be purchased with PUs. Instead, they can only be created with SPCs. An SPC creates one free advanced unit every two turns. (Once every four turns for Superfortresses.) Most of your units will be normal: you used PUs to purchase these. But some will be advanced units, created by your SPCs.
Before you are allowed to build any SPCs, you must research Advanced tech. Advanced 1 lets you have one SPC, Advanced 2 lets you have two SPCs, and so forth. Each nation has a hard cap for how many SPCs it can have. These are below:
Germany: 5
USSR: 3
Japan: 3
Britain: 2
Italy: 0
China: 0
America Pacific: 2
America Atlantic: 3
It is not enough to research advanced tech or build SPCs. You must also research the tech for at least one advanced unit type. Below is a list of the advanced unit types available for each nation:
Germany: Panther, King Tiger, jet, flying wing, fleet carrier, Type XXI U-boat
USSR: Heavy tank, early jet, jet, fleet carrier
Japan: early jet, jet, fleet carrier
Britain: Heavy tank, jet, fleet carrier
America Pacific: heavy tank, jet, fleet carrier, Superfortress
America Atlantic: heavy tank, jet, fleet carrier
Jets can land only on fleet carriers. Not on normal carriers.
Manpower Points (MPs)
There are two resource types: PUs or production units. And MPs, or manpower points. PUs represent industrial output, MPs represent men available to serve in an army. Some territories produce both PU income and MP income. A territory produces MP income only for its original owner, but provides PU income for anyone who owns it.
Below is a list of infantry-type units:
Conscript. Cost: 0 PUs, 1 MP. Attack 0, defend 1, move 1. China, USSR, and Italy only.
Colonial Militia. Just like a conscript. Britain only. Britain cannot build. But it can receive for free in India each turn with "Raj" tech.
Infantry. Cost 1 PU and 1 MP. Attack 1, defend 2, move 1. All nations except China.
Marine. Cost: 2 PUs and 1 MP. Attack 2, defend 2, move 1. America Pacific only.
Sturmtruppen. Cost: 3 PUs and 1 MP. Attack 2, defend 3, move 1. Germany only.
Mobile infantry. Cost: 3 PUs and 1 MP. Attack 1, defend 2, move 2.
Mechanized infantry. Cost 5 PUs and 1 MP. Attack 2, defend 2, move 3.
All infantry type units can receive support on offense and defense.
Tanks
Light tank. Cost 5. Attack 2, defend 1. Move 2. Can blitz.
Tank. Cost 8. Attack/defend on a 3. Move 2. Two hitpoints.
Heavy tank/Panther. Advanced unit. Attack/defend on a 4. Move 2. Four hitpoints.
King Tiger. Advanced unit. Attack/defend on a 4 + 4. Move 2. Six hitpoints.
Heavy tanks, Panthers, and King Tigers provide support on both offense and defense. A heavy tank or Panther supports one infantry-type unit. A King Tiger supports two infantry-type units.
The "Speer's Industrialization" tech causes Germany to receive a free Panther every other turn at each of its SPCs. Therefore a German SPC is about twice as valuable as a non-German one. Late game Allied income is expected to be large, so this may be needed for game balance.
Italy and Japan start the game with the ability to build light tanks only. Researching tanks tech allows them to build medium tanks. A two hit tank sounds great. But after you think about sticky hits, a 1 hitpoint light tank for 5 PUs isn't much worse than a 2 hitpoint tank for 8 PUs. Especially considering the light tank gives you more offensive firepower for the money than the medium tank.
Diplomatic Situation
East Indies
At the start of the game, the United States is at peace. Japan is not at war with anyone either, except for China and the neutrals. The Dutch own most of the East Indies. But the Dutch do not get a turn, so that income is wasted as far as the Allies are concerned. Japan is allowed to invade the East Indies starting on round 3. To the extent Japan conquers the East Indies the money goes to Japan. But if the Allies take it back, ownership reverts to the Dutch. Which means the money goes to no one.
America at Peace
While at peace, America has a very limited income. Also, its turn consists of build units and place units. No opportunity to move anything. That means the fleet at Pearl Harbor gets hit on J3.
Nerfed American Income
Everyone is at war for the start of round 3. At the end of America Pacific's third turn it collects 70% of the income it should have. That goes up to 80% for turn 4, 90% for turn 5, and 100% for turn 6. America Atlantic's income nerf is worse. 30% for round 3, 40% for round 4, and so on, until it works its way up to 100%.
Movement restrictions
Non-Chinese Allied units cannot enter Chinese soil. Non-Soviet Allied units cannot enter Soviet soil. If a non-Soviet Ally takes an originally Soviet territory from the Axis, that territory becomes Soviet. The non-Soviet Allied units present there are sold for cash at the end of the Soviet player's turn. If the Soviet Union takes an originally Chinese territory from the Axis, that territory becomes Soviet. But if Britain or the U.S. take an originally Chinese territory from the Axis, that territory becomes Chinese. Some of the non-Chinese units are sold to create a Chinese garrison, the rest are sold for cash for China.
Lend-Lease
Britain and the U.S. are able to purchase munitions. It takes 4 PUs to purchase one munitions. These can be sent to the USSR or to China. At the end of the Soviet or Chinese player's turn, any munitions present on their soil are converted to cash. Munitions can also be used to shift income between America Pacific and America Atlantic. However, each half of America can only absorb two munitions per turn. (Upgradable to four per turn through tech.)
Own Nation Carriers and Transports
Nations cannot use each other's transports or carriers. No British troops on an American transport, for example. Nations cannot share strategic bombing raids. For example, if there are British planes bombing the factory in Hamburg, there cannot be America Atlantic planes bombing that same factory on that same turn.
Capitals
China does not have a capital. Later in the game it automatically receives a free tech, which causes it to get free conscripts on Chungking. China only receives those conscripts on turns it owns Chungking.
For all other nations, capitals work as follows. The first time you lose your capital, you hand over all your cash to the nation which conquered it. But that is a one-time deal only. After that, the capital is treated as an ordinary territory. Your nation is allowed to collect income and spend income without regard to whether it owns its capital or not. If a nation does not own its own capital, then it is at -1 research center for each turn of non-capital ownership. Also, propaganda techs create free infantry or conscripts on a nation's capital. A nation misses out on these free units for each turn it does not own its capital.
Chinese Unit Placement
China may place up to two conscripts on any territory it owned at the start of its turn. Units which cost PUs, such as heavy guns, can only be built on Chinese factories. If China places both conscripts and non-conscript units on a territory with a factory, the first two conscripts placed do not count against the factory's unit placement limit.
